Aikenrooster

"...did I have the dream, or did the dream have me..."

Best thread topic ever. I love Rush because of the lyrics, and I love Headlong Flight, but those lyrics have troubled me since I first heard them. I has really made me think long and hard about this subject. Of course, I'd like to do it all over again, if I could take all the lessons that I've learned(especially about how ruthless people other people are) and apply them to reliving my life, but I know I wouldn't want to live my live, again, exactly as I have lived it this time, simply because I haven't lived. I have only been able to experience a very, very, small fraction of the things that I have wanted to, for reasons that I guess I don't need to whine about on this forum. Plus, school sucked, and I've made a lot of mistakes in my adulthood ... well, really nothing but mistakes - why would I want to do that all over again?

I love that album. I guess because I love lyrics and it's pretty heavy. I understand other people's POV, but I can help it the way I am wired.

I know this sounds silly, but I only really "got into" Rush, very recently, and only because of recent technology. Even with satellite radio, they only played the hits, but when I got a smartphone, with that Slacker Radio app, and the Grooveshark app, music changed for me. I knew I had been living under a rock, my whole life, and that I had been deprived of some great music ... now, Rush is the music that I have to listen to everyday on my walk.

QUOTE (Scottjf8 @ Jul 25 2012, 08:29 PM) DEW? whatever, dude. I like the song. That is all that matters.

If they played subdivisions, far cry, earthshine, ghost rider, DEW, 2112, and all of Clockwork Angels, I would be ecstatic.

I do have empathy for the OP on this issue. My favorite college football team, the SC Gamecocks, have had a little bit of success, recently, after being very mediocre for a long time. With this success, they have jacked the ticket prices up to astronomical levels, whereupon anyone who wishes to attend must make sacrifices somewhere else to afford it. One certainly didn't have to do this even as recent as 10 years ago. I don't think people should have to sacrifice to be entertained. Having said that: I have never seen Rush, and I know that this may be my only opportunity to do so, so I forked out the big bucks, and did without some other things. From my understanding, the live show is well worth it, although I couldn't afford to see multiple shows at the level that I am sitting for this one. It's only going to get worse, to be honest. In the news today they talked about food prices going up 5%, due to the drought in the US Midwest, and also our government printing more money. Our money is simply worthless, and we don't have a fraction of the purchasing power that our parents had in the 1950s

I hope they confiscate all the phones and cameras at the Atlanta show, which is the one I will be attending, if The Fates allow it. There will be a professional live Blue Ray Disk of the tour, that you can buy, later, so just go to the show and try to enjoy it. When these smartphones came out I use to try and take pictures at football games all the time, and I quickly found out that I was losing the atmosphere of being there by continuously trying to take pictures. Our brains will make memories that are better than any phone or camera, IMHO.

I will definitely read the novel, even though I don't read any fiction. I will buy it just because it is Rush.

Today it is "One little vic-toryyyyyyyyyyyy..."

Yeah, I hate Bruce Springsteen, too.

Yeah, the whole album is an epic.

Witch Hunt is slow, so I'll go with that.

QUOTE (Workaholic Man @ Jul 18 2012, 04:18 PM) 24/7 News should be banned, outlawed, and eradicated. TV news programs used to be about bringing real news stories. Now, it's all about ratings, entertainment, political propaganda, celebrity-driven garbage. If anything has "dumbed down" the American people, it's been 24/7 News.... Agree. I think the 24/7 cable news channels(particularly FoxNews, but they're all guilty to some degree) have contributed more to the animosity between Americans than anything else. The US government is running roughshod over its own people, and the peoples of the rest of the world, and we get a story about a cat stuck in a tree, somewhere in Maryland, constant political polls, crap about the royal family in England, celebrity news, and other junk. Stuff that matters isn't even mentioned, and they don't do anything to try and educate the average American. Recent example: gas prices went up in the spring. The media, instead of trying to educate the public on the truth of why the prices went up, just went ballistic trying to scare the public into believing that the gas prices would be $10 per gallon, by summer, which DID NOT happen. The media could have given the sober truth, encouraged people to maybe commute a little more, combine trips, buy a smaller car, walk a little more, etc., but they didn't, because, LIKE YOU SAID, that doesn't get ratings. It is a pathetic discourse on the US society.

To the OP: I don't see how they couldn't be affected by the break, but I also don't see how one could even discover how it affected them, if it did, and to what degree. What I mean is: they live their lives everyday, just like we do, and everything that they encounter in live WILL have an effect on them, just like it does to everyone. But, I think it is irrelevant, really. I am sure something happens to Steven King, in the course of his daily writing, that he somehow, consciously or unconsciously incorporates into the book, but one would never know it.

1)The television. This device has made every person dumber who has ever watched it, including me. I had a revelation once: when you're watching TV, you're watching someone else have all the fun, when YOU could be the one having fun. Again, I wish I could break the habit, too, and read more than I do, but the TV in the house is always on, it seems. 2)Facebook and text messaging: I don't not have a facebook page, and I texting is blocked on my phone. My wife has facebook and everyone on there just uses it to post up their religious or political crap o' the day and tell everyone what they're doing, like anyone cares, so I never made one. I had to block texting because people quit calling me on the phone; now, if you want to talk to me you have to call. 3)Wal-mart. 'nuff said.

KISS. I can't stand them. Maybe there is more on the albums, better than what has been endlessly played on classic rock stations, but I've never bothered to buy any of their stuff. Kid Rock is another. The guys is a thief and couldn't come up with original material, if his life depended on it. In fact, a lot of the new artists are guilty of theft. That, and they have to have cameo appearances on their records, all the time, in order to try and sell them. That is still piggybacking off of others' success. It doesn't matter though, rednecks still show up for the shows, and that's all that counts in the modern music industry. Def Leopard is another. I don't have a beef with these guys, but I just never dug them.

QUOTE (Dscrapre @ Jul 12 2012, 12:20 AM) I relate to this song. When I look at the the people around me I see "their smiles and their diamonds, their happiness and love" and it makes me very angry. I'm pretty alone, I feel different from most people, and I'm kind of an asshole without fully realizing it. I feel like I missed out on it all growing up. "The lenses inside of me that paint the world black" I understand what that means. Lyrically speaking, this is one of Rush's finest efforts. Definitely one of the most close to home for me. Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. Be cool.

Definitely, "The Anarchist," speaks to me most personally, but also, because I drive a truck, "Seven cities of Gold." I have been fortunate to see quite a bit of the US and fair amount of Canada. I hate the lyrics to Headlong Flight(because I wouldn't want to live my life again), but the song rocks so much that one can't help but overlook them.

I think some strings would be cool. That may help explain all the venues that are ampitheatres ... they have the "orchestra pit" already built in. I think some of the GUP songs would be cool with an orchestra.

I hope I can add something to this discussion, as "The Anarchist" resonates strongly with me, as do a lot of the Rush repertoire, lyrically speaking. "A missing part of me that grows around me like a cage," for me, are all the things that I didn't get to do growing up, and all the subsequent mistakes that I've made in my 20s, and continue to make. My anger about that, personally speaking, missing all those things (that everyone else got to do) is the cage (of anger) that grows around me ... and the world IS painted black, through my eyes ... it IS really hard for me to smile(people think I am angry, all the time, and are always telling me to smile). Another line I love is, "For all those years I had to get along," a powerful summary of my life growing up. I really relate to this song. The trick is, as the album teaches us, is to let it go, and "just wish them well," because "the hours tick away, the cells tick away," and "hope is what remains to be seen." Neil has been able to let it go ... I wish I could grow up and let it go, too.

QUOTE (presto123 @ Jul 11 2012, 03:48 PM) QUOTE (GeminiRising79 @ Jul 11 2012, 10:46 AM) Its just another blog page- This guy doesn't speak for the whole of Sweden! Either Tombstone or this guy must be another Rush employee. Blah blah blah. I've read many reviews now that say album of the year or one of Rush's best. All these reviewers are in on the conspiracy huh? Rush pulled it off and the haters don't want to give them credit. So predictable. Yeah. Ever since I joined this "Rush fan site," I've been astonished at the number of haters. The fact of the matter is that Rush still kick ass, after all these years. Deal with it.

QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 23 2012, 08:33 PM) Apologies to everybody out there who are pretending to like this thing, but the songwriting, vocal melodies, song structures, arrangements are an example of a band that are completely devoid of any ideas as regards a musical future... The mastering is so bad that the individual instruments and vocals are difficult to hear. Quite obviously, to anybody with a pair of ears this album has been cut and pasted beyond belief and not particularly well No, it doesn't "Kick Ass" and no, it's not their best since... ? To be honest, I would prefer to read the novel than to have to listen to Pearts backing band trying to come up with some dodgy music in an effort to support his narrative. "In the fullness of time" this album will go down as sucking as much as the rest of the Rush catalogue since "Signals" I remember reading on this forum how great "Snakes and Arrows" was, only to be slagged of a few moths later, once the childish euphoria wore off.. CA is truly awful... you'll all agree with me in a few years - or through the "fullness" of time... Perhaps you're right. But, I would wager that the vast majority of the rock n roll listening masses(of which I am a member) don't have degrees in music theory, are not audiophiles, and simply try to appreciate the product that was produced by real professionals, knowing that if we could make a better product, we would. I think that is the case with most of rock n roll, except in Rush's case, they're one of the few bands, who after 30+ years, are still together, in the original form. I have no doubt that everyone isn't going to like the exact same songs, because we're human and not robots. If YOU don't like the album, just say so, BUT, to say that it sucks intimates that you know how to make something better. So, go make us an album and get rich.

The tracks show up in English when I play it on my PS3, but asian characters show up when I pop it in my computer and use WMP. Just wondering if anyone else has this problem. Well, it's not really a big deal, because I have the tracks memorized, but it will make for a good conversation.

QUOTE (AndroidOnTheRun @ Jun 21 2012, 09:14 PM) I don't really want to get into this -- and PLEASE know that the following contains only my observations, not my personal political views, as I understand such ought to be left to SOCN -- but hasn't it long been established that Ayn Rand is not Neil's muse? Obviously he's still all about the individual -- which is why his lyrics have always spoken to me -- but he has on numerous occasions distanced himself vehemently from stalwart Objectivism. I would argue that Neil's last song to expound strongly upon right-leaning fiscal views is The Trees. Starting with Power Windows especially, he seems to add a measure of compassion beyond the individual that is not part of strict Objectivist thinking. My guess is the Neil of today is more skeptical of "Big Money" than of those who speak out against exploitation (real or merely perceived) by the ultra-rich . I do not presume that Neil would be in favor of or against Occupy, but I don't think that a (mostly) harmless group of protesters -- now largely forgotten -- are equivalent to the Anarchist. The character that Neil portrays has obviously suffered some real injustice in his life, but his hate has twisted warranted indignance to active evil. Most criticism I hear of the Occupy folks portrays them as having suffered perceived injustice that is twisted to active complaining... not quite as nefarious. I don't want to really get into this either, but your view of Objectivism is mistaken. There is NOTHING in the objectivist theory which denounces or advocates an individual having compassion for others and/or helping others, VOLUNTARILY. In fact, VOLUNTEERISM, is the essence of Objectivism, and Libertarianism, as opposed to COMPULORYISM, because it is more efficient and makes people happy. I guess to put it in laymen's terms, when you give voluntarily it makes you feel good as opposed to when someone puts a gun to your head and forces you to do something. Of course, maybe I misunderstand Objectivism and everything I just typed was completely wrong.